THREE DIED OF BIRD FLU IN AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2006 18:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri authorities announced Monday that three
persons died in the country from avian influenza. In the words of
Azeri Health Ministry representative Samaya Mamedova, “preliminary
analyses indicate that 3 persons who died earlier had the bird flu
virus.” At that Mamedova did not specify, whether the matter concerned
H5N1 strain, earlier found in Turkey and Western Europe.

All victims were members of a family, living in Salyan region of
Azerbaijan. They died in the regional hospital in early March. The
British laboratory, where patterns of patient tissues are sent, has
not confirmed the diagnosis. Earlier Azeri Health Ministry officials
reported that some 100 people are taken to hospital with symptoms
similar to those of the bird flu.

According to the World Health Organization, from the end of 2003
to March 2006 98 persons died in the world from the bird flu. The
latest confirmed victim of the bird flu is a 12-year-old girl from
Indonesia. From the beginning of 2006 virusH5N1, which is potentially
dangerous for humans, was discovered in dead bird in Western Europe,
Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, as well as four
African states – Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Epidemiologists
forecast the virus will transfer to the territory of North America
during spring migration. US Department of Agriculture uses information
from its military intelligence satellites to monitor movement of
birds of passage from Asia to Alaska through Siberia.

However, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns stated, “we cannot
build a large cage and prevent birds from come flying to the US,”
Lenta.ru reports.